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Changes in Narragansett Bay CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY Proceedings of the 2017 Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium RHODE ISLAND SEA GRANT COASTAL RESOURCES CENTER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY university of rhode island ALL EYES ON THE BAY LOBSTERS WITH SHELL DISEASE, fewer crabs, less kelp, a water column seemingly devoid of life. More productivity in the open ocean than in Nar- ragansett Bay. A correlation of this decline with reductions to wastewater treatment plant effluent discharges. Organisms growing prolifically on oyster cages in the bay. Better growth of oysters in the bay than offshore. A fear that warming waters would lead to more disease outbreaks. The first set of observations and concerns was from fishermen who spoke at the 2017 Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium on changes in Narragansett Bay. The second set was from shellfish farmers. They came to the symposium seeking answers for the question of how to ensure optimal The 2017 Ronald C. Baird conditions for their industries to continue to operate in the bay for years to Sea Grant Science come. They wondered about what roles nutrient reductions, chemical inputs, and climate change play in the conditions they are seeing. Symposium was sponsored Scientists from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Ocean- by the University of ography, Boston University, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Rhode Island Graduate School Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Narragansett of Oceanography, Rhode Bay Commission, which operates two wastewater treatment facilities on the Island Sea Grant, the Coastal bay, talked about how climate and nutrients interact to create environments Resources Center, and that are more or less hospitable to different species of plants and animals. the van Beuren They also discussed how wastewater is treated before being discharged into Charitable Foundation the bay, and how they test for the effects of chemicals in bay life. While much is known, many questions remain. Temperatures continue to rise; further nutrient reductions are planned; and new chemicals are contin- Changes in Narragansett Bay: ually developed for uses such as firefighting foam, and they will make their Proceedings of the 2017 Ronald C. way into bay waters. Even now, some changes, such as the increased residence Baird Sea Grant Science time of summer flounder in the bay, defy what is thought to be understood Symposium was edited by Monica about bay conditions and temperature rise. Calls for a return to using meso- Allard Cox and produced cosms—tanks that replicate bay conditions for testing various scenarios—and by Rhode Island Sea Grant. coupling those tests with computer modeling; researching why decapods, such The articles included are taken as lobsters, are leaving the bay; and studying which sources of nutrients will directly from the talks as be the most important for bay productivity now that sewage treatment plants are reducing discharges were some of the questions that emerged throughout presented at the symposium. the day. We at Rhode Island Sea Grant will be returning to examine the contri- butions of all Baird Symposium participants to this discussion, and working April 2018 with partners and stakeholders—“citizen scientists”—to invest in research to better understand the changes occurring in Narragansett Bay to improve man- agement for all, in particular for those who make their living from its waters. Dennis Nixon Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant contents A RESILIENT BAY: STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES 2 By Hugh Markey NARRAGANSETT BAY: “LIVING AND DYING BY THE CHOICES 4 WE’VE MADE”—GEORGE JONES By Hugh Markey OUR CHANGING BAY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 7 By Hugh Markey KILLING PATHOGENS, NOT AQUATIC LIFE: HOW WASTEWATER 9 TREATMENT FACILITIES DISINFECT EFFLUENT By Meredith Haas WHERE HAS ALL THE EELGRASS GONE? 11 By Meredith Haas SHIFTING SPECIES: ECOLOGICAL CHANGES 13 IN NARRAGANSETT BAY By Meredith Haas CLIMATE CHANGE OR CLEAN WATER: WHAT’S TO BLAME FOR 16 DECREASED PRODUCTIVITY IN NARRAGANSETT BAY? By Monica Allard Cox TESTING THE FUTURE: MONITORING, EXPERIMENTS, 17 AND MODELING KEY TO PREDICTING CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY By Monica Allard Cox COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES RESEARCH FOUNDATION A RESILIENT BAY Stakeholder Perspectives By Hugh Markey Photos by Melissa Devine Depending on the species they harvest, fishermen and aquaculturists report different perceptions of changes in Narragansett Bay. f attendees at the Ronald C. Baird losses in their fisheries. shell disease in lobsters taken by the ISea Grant Science Symposium Some of the direst concerns were Newport Bridge, and when you go were united by a concern about the expressed by Al Eagles of the Rhode out front [closer to the mouth of the health of Narragansett Bay, some Island Lobstermen’s Association. bay], there’s very little shell disease, were divided about what exactly Unlike his fellow panelists who and the further offshore you go, is happening and why. That was were University of Rhode Island there’s no shell disease. evident in the stakeholder segment graduates, “I got my education Lanny Dellinger, board member of the program. The five-member on Narragansett Bay,” Eagles said of the Rhode Island Lobstermen’s panel of commercial fishermen in of his career that has spanned 45 Association, sees the absence of the lobster, crab, and shellfishing years. “We had a resilient Narra- kelp in the bay as another indicator industries, as well as aquaculturists, gansett Bay back in the ’90s,” he of trouble. “Ten or 15 years ago, boasted a range of experience from said, even as water temperature was we would have balls of kelp as big 10 to over 40 years on the water, rising due to climate change. “Ev- as a pickup truck along the shores. and each held views of the bay that erything was flourishing, but today You just can’t find that anymore. In were as passionate as they were dif- we as fishermen and observers of the upper bay, you can’t buy a piece ferent. Most of the wild harvesters the bay do not see that same thing.” of kelp.” seemed to feel a reduction in nitro- He cited the rise in lobster shell Eagles agreed: “There used to be gen being released into the bay— disease in the bay as a growing plenty of rockweed in Jamestown, due to wastewater treatment in- problem. He said that shell disease off Rose Island, but that’s gone. Yet vestments that reduced the amount appeared in the late 1990s. “And if you go off Newport, the lobster of untreated sewage that overflows it’s getting worse by the year, believe is plentiful and so is the kelp. There into the bay after storms—was at it or not. I did a study last year, and is a disconnect between the bay and least partly to blame for perceived there was a 67 percent incidence of the open ocean.” 2 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY cles stopped growing on our traps How clean is too clean? Al Eagles Mike McGiveney, President of in the bay. After a year, they still the Rhode Island Shellfisherman’s looked like they just came off the Association, traces his shellfishing delivery trucks, whereas the ones heritage back 130 years, to the era in the open ocean had plenty of of Scallop Town, a 19th-century barnacles. nickname for a section of the East “A lot of our fishermen say, Greenwich waterfront that was a when they’re going to fish in the hub for scalloping. He too voiced bay, that they’re going to fish in concern about nitrogen reduction. Chernobyl. That’s a terrible thing “Are there enough nutrients to feed to say.” the shellfish? Is clean water healthy water? There are 5 tons less nitro- Oysters in the bay gen going into the bay today. That Mason Silkes, co-owner of Saltwa- has to have an impact.” ter Farms, which operates farms in Eagles pointed to what many the bay and in Rhode Island Sound, would consider a positive indicator offered a different perspective, say- year as a result of a harmful algal as a source of concern: the clarity of ing that during the summer when he bloom that shut down the sale of the bay’s water. “If you go out there puts out his cages and lines, they’re shellfish for both farmers and wild right now, as we did in the past covered with growths of all kinds, harvesters for a couple of weeks couple of summers, and scoop up and his oysters are thriving. “One caused some economic loss, and a bucket of water, there’s nothing of our main jobs in the middle of may result in a negative public swimming in it. Narragansett Bay the summer is spending the better perception of unhealthy shellfish has turned into a swimming pool. part of each day power washing the coming out of state waters. If you look into a swimming pool, lines and cages. Everything grows “How the reduction in nitrogen because of the chemicals you can like crazy. On the other hand, and climate change affect these see right to the bottom. If you go when we farm offshore, the growth things is a concern. I can’t put my down to my dock right now or in rate of the oysters is not nearly as finger on one cause of the changes the summer time, you can see the good.” or one solution, and I’m not sure same thing. Matt Griffin, researcher and any of us can, but it’s important “Everybody is saying what a shellfish farmer, says the oyster that we’re all sitting here with an great job they did in cleaning up growth in the upper bay is actu- open mind.
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